mental illnesses | Caught Read Handed

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are musically inclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.)

I decided to go with ten characters who have mental illnesses, as it is something I’ve always been interested in. The brain is such a strange organ. I think mental illnesses are a really important thing to talk, read, and write about; continuing to talk about mental illnesses (because they ARE an illness and not something you can change or easily get over) will help to get rid of the stigma surrounding them. I fully appreciate the rise in books, especially young adult books, that deal with mental illness. It’s SO important for teens and adults to know that they aren’t alone.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia: Paranoid Schizophrenia, Alex
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga: Depression, Aysel
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini: Depression, Craig
The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder: Bipolar Disorder, Zoe
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Matthew
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer: depression, Jam
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson: Eating Disorder, Lia
The Chance You Won’t Return by Annie Cardi: Nervous Breakdown, Thought Disorder, Alex’s mom (I can’t for the life of me remember if she actually has a name)
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick: Depression, Leonard Peacock
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick: Bipolar Disorder, Pat